This disclosure relates to a methods and products for use by pet owners, zoo keepers, small animal handlers and others who handle, walk or care for animals. More specifically, this disclosure relates to the problem of solid animal waste and the need to collect such waste so that it does not befoul or remain on sidewalks, streets, lawns, walking trails, beaches or other surfaces.
It is well known that many domesticated animals, for example dogs, leave solid waste in unsuitable places. In the case of domesticated dogs, the animal is taken outside, perhaps into an enclosed yard or walk public walk or other open property, during which period it defecates. If the animal is not allowed outside at least once or twice per day, it is likely to leave its waste inside the owner's house or other living area. In either situation, it is commonly customary (or required by law) for the owner or handler of the animal to remove the waste and transport it for a proper disposal. Of course, that task can be quite unpleasant for the owner or handler in light of unpleasant characteristics of the waste. All too often, owners or handlers do not remove the waste. In that case, it remains unpleasant for others that may use the area. It can also be a health hazard insofar as it carries bacteria and/or other pathogens, which may be transmitted to other organisms directly, through leaching into water sources, or in other ways. Numerous news accounts and other sources note the large percentage of American households that include a dog, and the effects of the waste they leave behind, including pollution of beaches and watersheds.
Other locations, besides parks, trails, beaches and city streets that experience problems with dog waste left behind include dwellings (such as rental apartments, houses, or condominiums) and associated yards, gardens or other spaces. Dog owners and neighbors alike know the unpleasantness of cleaning a yard after a dog, or of discovering unremoved waste. Transportation facilities and businesses relating to animals, and particularly to their travel and habitation, are also confronted with a need to control animal waste efficiently and hygienically.
Attempts to solve pet waste problems, to date, have not satisfactorily resolved these and other solid waste problems that have resulted from the domestication of small animals, especially dogs. With the increasing numbers of dogs in apartments and homes in cities, walking the dog becomes a once- or twice-daily event for an increasing number of households in the United States and around the world. The need to remove pet waste and the problems relating to unremoved waste will accordingly become greater.
A number of methods and products associated with pet waste removal are currently available. Among these are diapers or pads designed for dogs or other small animals. These products allow waste to remain close to the animal, frequently resulting in waste coming in close contact with skin and hair in various places on the animal's hindquarters, even more so if the diaper is not taken off of the animal immediately after use. Another solution has been to provide plastic bags in dispensing devices along walking paths and in parks. The animal's handler or owner can take a bag from the dispenser, use it to pick up deposited waste, tie it or otherwise close it and put the full bag into a bin or trash can. This option requires the bag supply to be constantly monitored and replenished by park or other staff, with the risk of that supply running out and being unrefilled over a significant period of time. In that case, no materials for waste clean-up are available. Special gloves, mitts or bags can be carried by the animal's handler or owner and used to pick up waste. Of course, these and other bag options require the unpleasant handling of the waste through a layer of plastic or other material, or picking up the waste with a scoop and then carrying both the bag and the soiled scoop.
Other efforts to handle pet waste are found in the business and legal realms. Animal owners or handlers can hire a service to clean up after their pets. Local ordinances provide for fines for not removing pet waste from public or other property. These efforts remain dependent on the owner's or handler's resolve to address the waste problem himself or herself, and are after-the-fact options that leave waste on the ground for at least a short period.
Consequently, there remains a need for improved devices and techniques for eliminating the unpleasantness of cleaning up deposited pet waste.